Syndrome's Last Stand
by Earthenfist
Summary: Syndrome's heroic redemption when he returns to Nomanisan directly after the end of the events in the film. My first One Shot.


Syndrome's Last Stand

Never let it be said that Buddy Pine, Syndrome, couldn't think on his feet. When Mr. Incredible threw that car, he hadn't known if his zero point energy would be able to protect him, but he threw a field around himself anyways. Luckily, it managed to void the energy of the turbines before they could harm him. He was thrown from the crash site, and lay unconscious in a field for hours before finally waking up and heading out.

Defeated and humiliated, Syndrome decided he'd had enough. While the Incredibles were moving into their temporary home, he headed back to his. Buying a train ticket with the cash he had on him (all his bank accounts were already confiscated by the government,) he was forced to fly back to Nomanisan using his jet boots.

He was understandably exhausted when he finally reached his tropical island home. Mirage was there to greet him, but he simply brushed past her, muttering about his bed and a shower.

Mirage was relieved. She still loved her employer, but she hadn't wanted to harm anyone. She had always managed to keep herself aloof from all the other supers, thinking of them as mere test subjects, but that had been impossible with Mr. Incredible, especially after the dinner Syndrome had insisted upon. She had gotten to know him, and found him an incredibly decent and caring man, and after finding out he had a family, well… Was it really any wonder that she had given him the password?

She entered the room she shared with Syndrome, and smiled when she saw him sprawled on the bed. His cape was unfastened and draped across a chair, but he hadn't even had the energy to remove his boots or gauntlets. She moved him into a more comfortable position, and tucked him in. He looked so peaceful in his repose, all the care and pain gone from his face. He looked like he did when he was in his laboratory inventing, or when they were having a quiet dinner on the top of the volcano's peak.

Mirage looked back once more upon his face as she exited the room. She would have liked to join him in slumber, but there was work to do in the aftermath of the failed project Kronos. Their accounts in Switzerland would need to be transferred and hidden, and there had been reports of seismic activity under the launch pad.

* * *

Syndrome woke to a blaring klaxon and a recorded voice repeating evacuation procedures. He got up and stretched, and was reaching for his cape when a tremor ran through the entire island, shaking everyone and knocking items off desks and counters.

Shaken out of his morning daze, Syndrome strode quickly to the command center. Everywhere he went, the halls were filled with minions running about, trying to save experiments or personal possessions. There were cracks in the tunnels, and he had to detour around one hallway sealed off because of fire.

When he finally reached the control center, he found Mirage and one of his higher ups frantically manning the com system, trying to direct the evacuation. When she realized he was there, Mirage turned to explain the situation. The launch pad, built in the center of the volcano, hadn't been designed for such a large rocket. All the previous Omnidroids had been much smaller, only half the size of the final version used in Kronos. That in itself wouldn't have been a problem, but the second rocket, fired so soon after the first, had melted the already heated rock of the launch pad, and the dormant volcano had woken up.

It was a disaster, to say the least. Syndrome snapped into action, ordering all the remaining personnel out of the command center. He then went on the intercom and made and announcement. All personnel on the island were to drop what they were doing and head towards the docks. Though Mirage had been having trouble getting people to listen, they were more than willing to obey the man who signed their paychecks.

The tremors were getting worse, and it wouldn't be long before the volcano erupted. When that happened, the center of the caldera wasn't the place one wanted to be, so as soon as he was assured that everyone was headed out of the base, Syndrome took Mirage by the arm and led her away towards the hangar.

They could see the jet they would use to leave the island, when another tremor, this one the biggest and most savage yet, rocked the island. A huge snap resounded through the corridor, and the roof of the hangar collapsed, burying the aircraft and blocking off that end of the passageway. They would have to use the boats to escape, but they were running out of time, and the docks were all the way at the base of the fortress. It would take much too long to get there on foot.

So Syndrome swept Mirage off her feet and launched himself down the hallway. It may have taken too long to walk, but he could fly. They roared through the passages, dodging falling debris and narrowly avoiding exploding gas lines, as the base continued to collapse around them.

They came blasting out of the side of the mountain, just as, with an almighty roar the island erupted. Smoke and ash billowed miles into the air as a tide of lava came barreling down the slopes. Syndrome deposited Mirage on the docks, where the last of the fortresses occupants were getting on the evacuation ships.

Syndrome could see at a glance that the ships wouldn't get away before the lava reached the docks, so once he saw Mirage safely to a ship, he flew back to try and buy them enough time.

He flew up, so that he could see the edge of the advancing lava better. Setting his gauntlets to high power and wide dispersal, he blasted a trench in front of, and piled boulders and debris behind, the molten tide. Once it had filled in the trench, and was starting to push the wall of debris aside, he began pulling quantities of seawater out of the ocean and throwing them at the front of the lava, creating a wall of cooled rock and slowing the flow. Seeing the lava's advance slowing down, Syndrome looked at the docks and was stunned to see that one of the ships hadn't left yet. He flew down to tell them to cast off, when he saw why they hadn't left. One of the soldiers hadn't gotten out yet, and was just now getting to the harbor.

Syndrome flew towards him to help him to the ship, when the barrier of cooled lava he'd made shattered, and a wall of molten rock barreled towards the man, who started to sprint even faster. Syndrome raced past him, and, planting his feet firmly on the ground used both gauntlets' zero point energy beams on the lava at maximum power. This halted the lava's advance, and the soldier made it to the ship on time.

Syndrome continued to strain at the lava, when Mirage ran to the rail of the ship and called to him to get onboard. He knew, though, that if he let the lava loose, it would overwhelm the ship before it could cast off, and so he used his wrist comm. to order the captain to set sail. Soldiers had to restrain Mirage, to keep her from jumping overboard and heading back. The power in Syndrome's gauntlets was failing, the Zero point field becoming weaker and weaker, and the lava was once again gaining ground. Soon his gauntlets would fail.

Mirage watched from the rail as the ship sailed away from the island. She couldn't make out Syndrome through the falling ash, but she could still see the shimmering field his gauntlets put out. And then, as the ship finally pulled out of the danger zone, the mountain trembled, and the top blew off the volcano. The brilliant white light of the Zero Point energy disappeared, and the island started sinking.

Tears ran down Mirage's face as she watched Nomanisan Island sink beneath the waves. Syndrome, Buddy Pine, had lived most of his life as a villain, but he had died, as a hero.


End file.
